


Of Thorns and Sapphires

by DarkMage13



Category: Guild Wars
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 13:58:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4708505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMage13/pseuds/DarkMage13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ol' tale of a sylvari necromancer who writes down all that he can say and remember since his awakening. OC Point of View during the core Guild Wars 2 Campaign.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Thorns and Sapphires

I never thought I would be able to write this down, but I guess I'm just a lucky person. I should start at the beginning, yes, well then.

  
In my Dream I saw two things that stood out to me. The first was of a shadow of a great dragon which felt twisted to me. The second image was a person cloaked in black and blue, holding a sword of twisted vines. The cloaked figure was slim and somehow, graceful. I felt a light and soft, elated feeling when I set eyes on the figure.

  
When I awoke I realized I was not alone in the pod. Next to me was a lightly colored and soft sylvari, a stark contrast to my black barky skin. She looked around, eyes wide.

  
Her name was Lylienna. She was known commonly as Rose.

  
And I am Iarith.

  
We were both necromancers. Rose had a much closer tie to the dead than I did, due to her Wyld Hunt which would never end until she dies.

  
My Wyld Hunt was to send her the dead, and she would ferry them. Well okay, there was more to it than that. My Wyld Hunt was to see to it that the Nightmare Court were finished. Even when I cut myself off from the Dream I still pursued this goal, though I felt as if I was betraying my Soundless brethren.

  
They took us twins to Kahedins, who is the Luminary for Dusk Blooms. According to what he told us, Dusk Blooms are known to be intelligent and resourceful. While we attended to lessons, we ran into the very first firstborn, Trahearne. He was a necromancer, just like us.

  
Now let me tell you a couple things about Trahearne, and one of them he doesn’t even know about. He was our friend, though not very close as he always left for Orr for long stretches of time. The second thing was that I always noticed Rose acting differently in the firstborn’s presence. I don’t know really what was going on with her at the time, but now that I would know the feeling, well let’s just say that she’s a bit smitten by the firstborn.

  
Soon once we were ready to truly pursue our Wyld Hunts, Rose and I parted our ways. She went travelling around the world, ferrying the dead souls. I have not seen her since.

  
I stayed in the village of Astorea for many seasons, just building my strength as I protected the villagers. I waited for the vision in my Dream to come to pass. I held much faith that it would come true. I waited for that one person to arrive. I saw the Nightmare Court carry similar weapons as the one figure in my Dream. I thought for sure that the person I was destined to meet was a part of the Nightmare. A part of me felt saddened at the fact. But years passed, my semi-quiet life of waiting and lowering the Court’s numbers faded as I started to lose hope. I left on my own a lot to try to make sense of things. The villagers grew concerned. What was I doing wrong? I did my best, as the tablet taught me. Mother loved us all dearly, but my Dream started to wane. It was then I remembered the Wyld Hunts of Caithe and Trahearne. How long were they trying for completion? Almost twenty years.

  
I left the village of Astorea without a word. I found a village up north, filled with sylvari that call themselves “Soundless”. They told me of their ways, cutting themselves off from the Dream and the Pale Tree to escape the pressures of it all. I was instantly drawn in. The Dream had failed me, and I refuse to wait for something that would never come.

  
Being Soundless was no easy task. I struggled every night to meditate and keep myself distant. They said I would find peace, but all I found was quiet and longing. I just wanted the Dream to not lie to me, and return the faith that I had put into it.

  
It was then I ran into an Order of Whispers agent. After what which I cannot mention what occurred, but I can say enough for what happened next.

  
I placed myself as a spy in the Nightmare Court. Truly, they cannot sense I was not of Nightmare as I could sense they were not of the Dream. I had done some awful things to gain their trust, but I never did any more than what was absolutely necessary. I was in their ranks. I still kept myself vigilant by meditating, clearing myself of the nightmares daily. I stayed in there for two years, and I will not go into any more detail than that.

  
One fateful day, I was making my rounds with some of the other courtiers in Wychmire Swamp. It seemed there was a main target (Cadeyern) and I was told to guard him while he resided within Twilight Arbor. The assassin arrived, hidden in shadows, and she only revealed herself with a deadly strike to my “comrade’s” neck. I drew my staff, ready and poised to defend myself. But the assassin became invisible again, and was quickly picking everyone off one by one. I was the only one left.

  
I held up my staff in surrender. “Do not kill me.”

  
The assassin held up her sword blade to my neck, finally revealing herself fully to me. She wore a dark hood with dark leafy attire of a sylvari. She was a Dreamer. “And why shouldn’t I?”

  
I was nervous. Mere moments away from being killed on the spot. It was then I recognized the sword, it was twisted like the Nightmare Court’s, and yet she was not a part of the Court. Something seemed oddly familiar about her…

  
I, as calmly as I could, spoke my reasoning. “I’m not like them.”

  
“You feel cold to me, but not as cold as them, but you could just be tricking me,”  
“Spare my life I spare yours,”

  
“And capture me and torture me?”

  
“I let you go free, if you spare me.”

  
“I can kill you and go free.”

  
“Would you kill a person who has laid down their weapon?” I said as I dropped my staff.

  
She hesitated for a moment, then dropped her sword. With a quick wave of her hand, she was gone before my eyes.

  
I felt elated in her presence. Something drew me to her, and I had to know. At that moment I knew I had to get out.

  
Unfortunately, Duchess Faolain had been suspicious of me for quite some time. She knew I was a spy, she was a brilliant Mesmer who wasted her talents on evil. She had sent a spy to trail me, and I did not notice until it was too late. They saw the entire exchange between me and the assassin.

  
I got summoned to Faolain’s Throne Room, where they binded my hands together. Faolain looked down upon me like a spider looking at the fly caught in its web.

  
“Well well, a spy in my own Court? Hmmm,” she observed me. I say nothing. “Truly, I never found a spy till now. All the rest of them leave before I can find them. Such a pity. I have a special way of picking off the spies.”

  
I remain silent still.

  
“I have a special poison,” she held up a vial to my face. “Made from the deathroot flower. It makes you weak, but it does not kill you. It got its lovely name from which the weakness is enough to let other kill you on the spot.”

  
I will not go into detail what she did to me that day. It was simply too horrible of torture to ever let anyone else know about. She did force the poison into me, among other things, but I will not speak of anymore.

  
I was placed in the wall after my torture, the horrid poison in my body making me too weak to fight off the vines trapping me. Courtiers day in and day out would come and mock me, saying I was a fool, and I started to believe them. I stayed there for a long while, weak and empty, compensating what had happened to me for the past ten years. How did I get myself here? Was it my Wyld Hunt? My lost faith in the Dream? Or was it that assassin I so desperately wanted to meet again? She was probably on the run from those wicked courtiers. What has become of Rose? Was she alive and well? Ferrying the dead? Or was she being ferried herself? Either way, she would probably see me soon.

  
A day came when those despicable courtiers came by, laughing mercilessly. I did not even dare to ask them what was so funny.  
One of them pointed to me and said, "We found that woman you were conspiring with. She was too defiant so we killed her. Haha!"

  
That was when I peaked in despair. No longer would I be able to see her. I had been there for so many days I couldn't keep track anymore. I was too weak in body and mind. Faolain had let the poison and torture seep in deep. Now I was going to die. I considered falling to Nightmare or planned on begging Faolain to kill me, just to end this pain.

  
Destiny it seemed had other plans.

  
Caithe and Faolain had a close relationship in the early days of the sylvari. But Faolain obviously fell to Nightmare, and she wanted Caithe to join her. For years Faolain tempted her, and it seemed Caithe had enough.

  
She came through the Arbor, with a small group of adventurers by her side. A tall, blonde human known to many as Commander Rim, but this was before she was Commander of the Pact; a tiny, heavily armored asura named Warmaster Kuria; two sylvari, one clad in leafy armor and held a beautiful longbow, the other was the assassin I had met in Wychmire Swamp.

  
The sylvari with the longbow pointed up to me, squinting her eyes. “Is there a person in the wall?”

  
Rim stopped and looked where the sylvari pointed. She gasped. “Yes it is! We need to get him out! He looks like he’s dying.”

  
The assassin had her shortbow out. “What if it’s a trick? I will not have us die because of some person stuck in the wall.”

  
Rim glared at her. “Melaine just help us get him out. Trick or not we can help him. And besides, we can handle a few tricks from the Court.”

  
The assassin known as Melaine was silent for a few seconds, then lifted up her bow to me. She shot, and I thought she was aiming to kill me. But no, the arrow hit the vines trapping me to the wall instead. I fell to the ground, being caught by the group. I was too weak to say anything, much less move my limbs. Rim is an experienced water elementalist, so she knew what was wrong with me immediately. The soothing water cleansed most of the poison from my body, but it had left my body very weak still.

  
“Ah, he’ll live, but he cannot move.”

  
The other sylvari, the one with the longbow, spoke. “We should send him straight to the Grove. The menders there can help him recover.”  
“Good idea, Gwyneth,” said Rim.

  
Melaine said nothing. It was obvious she distrusted me still. But that was okay, she was perfectly in my point of view, and I could see her hidden beauty before some scouts came and quickly sent me to the Grove.

  
It had been so long since I have been in the Grove, and I felt my connection to the Dream grow strong again, even if it still remained weak. After a day I was able to speak, but still could not move. The menders said it would be a month before I was fully healthy again.  
The small group along with Caithe had driven Faolain from Twilight Arbor. The menders spoke of Caithe being distant, before she soon left, for what, they did not know.

  
Rim and her friends dropped in to see if I was recovering well. Gwyneth was relieved to see I was okay, as if she thought I wasn’t going to live even though Rim had said I would.

  
Melaine, still was quiet as ever. She did return soon after the group left, and sat with me.

  
“I still don’t trust you. You seem distant,” she said.

  
“Ah, so the assassin speaks still.” I said.

  
Her hood hid her expression. “Do not joke with me. I still could’ve killed you on the spot, and I can kill you right here if your loyalty falters.”

  
“But you won’t kill me, right? If I was a part of the Court I would have killed you and your friends by now, or at least attempted to do so.”  
She got up and left without a word. I was right and she knew it.

  
I thought I would probably never see her again after that. But she came back the next day, putting aside her distrust. She barely talked, but when she did, she spoke so precisely. And the next day after that, she visited again.

  
One day, she did not visit. I felt strangely wanting her presence. It was that feeling of longing I had when I lived in Astorea, waiting for my destiny to arrive. I had forgotten what I had waited for.

  
The day after, she returned, ragged and tired. Without a word she sat down next to me, fighting sleep. The menders smirked and left us alone. Melaine fell asleep next to me. My breathing hitched. I felt an overwhelming feeling towards her.

  
When she awoke, she seemed embarrassed she had passed out next to me.

  
“Well, the assassin does get tired, I’m impressed,” I said, more than likely not helping my relation with her.

  
“Claw Island fell,” she simply said. At that point in time I was able to sit up in bed and even get up and walk a few feet. My eyes widened in shock. Claw Island was the one defense between Zhaitan, the Elder Undead Dragon, and Lion’s Arch.

  
“How? What happened?”

  
“The undead assaulted it, full stop. The Firstborn, Trahearne was there. But even he was not able to stop the massacre,” she explained.  
The war against Zhaitan was becoming more dire it seemed. Melaine then said she helped clean out the Undead in the city. She then got up to leave, saying only one more sentence to me.

  
“No matter how many allies we have, the Order of Whispers cannot hope to defeat any Elder Dragon.”

  
I received a letter from the Order of Whispers, written in code. I cannot say what it said, but it did mention a dear friend of mine, Tybalt, was killed in the attack on Claw Island. How many will die fighting against Zhaitan? How many will die and fight for Zhaitan? How long before the entire world goes up in flames.

  
More days and visits passed, Melaine talking about other things besides the war on Zhaitan. I was able to walk out of the little area in which I recovered at currently. The more she visited, the more I grew attached to her. Her voice was soothing to hear.

  
One day she visited, and she seemed very agitated. I ask what was wrong. She, for the first time in my presence, sighed.

  
“Rim and I are part of the Order of Whispers, and I’m sure you are too. Tybalt was our mentor and he died. We did convince the Preceptors to look to joining the other two orders together. Gwyneth and Kuria are from the Vigil, and Rim’s dear friend, Mingxia is a part of the Priory. There’s one single problem,” she said. I think this was the longest paragraph she has spoken to me.

  
“What?” I ask, curious how this new order would work. I was of the Order of Whispers, surely I could join this compact.

  
“We have no idea who should lead,”

  
“You need someone to lead the new compact?”

  
“They cannot be of any order, and they must have knowledge of what we are up against.”

  
I had no names to contribute, except one. “What about Trahearne? He knows almost everything about Orr.”

  
She had lifted her hood from her face a little to look at me funny. “He’s a scholar, he doesn’t know a thing about setting up troops or defenses, he can only predict what the risen will do.”

  
“So? That predicting can be useful commanding.”

  
Melaine was silent for a while. Then she finally spoke. “I need someone to count on. I trust the Firstborn, but I fear if him being a leader will last and keep the compact together.”

  
As per usual, she left, but not before placing her hand on my shoulder, as if she wanted to do something…else.

  
The next day, she returned. “Our mother gave us counsel. Trahearne is the leader of the newly formed Pact.”

  
The Pale Tree gave them counsel? Perhaps if the Pale Tree can show them the way, then maybe she can show me the way again. It has been so long since I disconnected myself from the Dream, but yet, I felt my connection become stronger as I recovered in the Grove.  
The Pact was still forming and getting their feet on the ground. Rim was the Pact Commander now, and Melaine had many things to do. But she still managed to visit me, and I was ready to get my own feet on the ground. In a short while I would be ready to leave and explore again.

  
“You have improved, Iarith.” She pointed out to me one day.

  
“I feel almost ready to see the world, to fight Zhaitan.” I said joyfully.

  
“Indeed…” she tapered off, lost in thought. She shook her head and resumed. “The Pact is ready to take the fight to Zhaitan.”

  
“Ah.” I twiddled my thumbs, unsure of what to say now. Then a question that still lingered in my mind becomes my focus. “Melaine, why didn’t you just kill me that day, in Wychmire Swamp?”

  
She looked to me. I could her entire expression. It was conflicted as she searched for an answer. “That is none of your concern.”

  
I stood up in anger. “It is my concern when it involves my life!”

  
She stood up as well, getting into my face with a dangerous flicker in her eye. “You don’t need to know!”

  
“I do want to know! And I thought you were trusting me, but I guess that was a lie, wasn’t it? Was it?!”

  
She clenched her fists and left without a word. I kicked the floor, angry that I had just made a mistake.

  
Melaine did not return the next day, or the day after that. It was an entire week of silence. She did not visit, and I felt such intense longing for her return. The menders told me I go now, but I wanted to stay, just to see if Melaine would return.

  
One of the Menders suggested I go speak with the Pale Tree. I took their advice.

  
I went up to the highest branches, where the Pale Tree manifests an avatar and speaks to visitors of all types and to her children. I felt such shame for abandoning the Dream as I did.

  
“Iarith, it has been so long,” she greeted me.

  
“Mother,” I said. “I lost faith in the Dream long ago, and I wish to remember my connection again. I feel…conflicted.”

  
“Do not fear, my son.” She said with a loving caress in her voice. “Your piece of the Dream showed you a beautiful person that which you have grown to deeply care for, yes?”

  
It was then I remember those visions of the Dream. I have been led to seeing the one I would love and care for deeply.

  
I had to find Melaine. I had to tell her how I felt, what I saw. I bowed to Mother. “Thank you, Mother.”

  
“Go in peace.”

  
Going through the Asura Gate, I arrived in a perfectly safe and risen-free Lion’s Arch. The Pact truly did their job. I knew the Pact was advancing on Zhaitan, but where Melaine would be in the advancement was unknown to me. I must ask a leader of the Pact, but I had no idea where their fort was. My only hope was the Order of Whispers Headquarters.

  
When I got there, the first thing I asked was where the Pact base was. One Lightbringer was confused.

  
“Where have you been living? Under a rock?”

  
“It’s a long story. Please, I need to know!” I pleaded. I must have been a desperate fool to them, but they answered anyways.  
“Fort Trinity is on the edge of Orr in the Straits of Devastation to the south of here.”

  
“Thank you!”

  
With that, I began running towards Orr. I immediately destroyed any risen in the way. I kept going, hoping that Melaine was still alive in the deadly conflict. I reached Fort Trinity, and bugged the first official I could find about Commander Rim’s whereabouts, for Melaine was a friend of hers.

  
“She and her platoon are in Malchor’s Leap, preparing to lay siege to the Temple of Lyssa. Be careful going into Orr, risen are very prominent in there.”

  
I nodded, and proceeded to follow the Pact into Orr. There were many people there, so risen were not a problem. But as soon as I could I split off from them. I had to get to Melaine as fast as I could.

  
Malchor’s Leap was dark and depressing. The land of Orr in general was weeping, but still breathing. One day I hope this place will be a bright utopia.

  
I reach the Temple of Lyssa to find it cleansed. The Commander was there, shouting various orders to Pact soldiers. The human however, noticed me right away.

  
“You are the sylvari Melaine has been visiting, yes?” Rim asked me, a devious smirk on her face.

  
“Yes.” I gasped for air. Running was difficult. “Where can I find her?”

  
“Over there.” She pointed to the Song of Lyss. Gwyneth and Melaine were there, guarding a giant cannon. I thank the Commander, then walked over to the Song. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say.

  
Gwyneth saw me approach, and she smiled. “Well Mel, you have a visitor. Oh how the tides have changed.” She giggled.

  
Melaine glared at me. “What are you doing here?”

  
“I came to talk to you.”

  
She sighed, then pulled me behind the giant wall onto a ledge that overlooked the west side of the Leap.

  
“You’re a fool for coming here,” she said to me. “What were you thinking? You narrowly escape death from the Nightmare Court then put yourself in danger again just to talk to me?!” She grabbed my hood as she exclaimed her concern. She looked down, unwilling to look me in the eye. “You fool…You fool…why?”

  
“Because Melaine,” I reach over and tugged at her hood. “I care about you. I need to tell you how I felt.”

  
She didn’t resist as I pulled her hood down, revealing her hair and entire face to me. Her eyes, like her hair, were a brilliant sapphire blue. Her hair was long and made of many thin vines and leaves that twisted together.

  
She sobbed in my chest. “You’re such a fool, Iarith.”

  
“I am your fool, though.”

  
She chuckled quietly as she pulled my hood down, revealing my entire face to her. My eyes as she would say, were the color of amber, and matched my flaming long red hair. I hugged her tightly. At last my Dream was realized, or at least a part of it.

"The reason why I didn't kill you that day," she whispered, "Was because I saw you in my Dream."

"You were in my dream too." With that, we just stood there in each other's embrace.

  
The moment was interrupted when Gwyneth called out for us.

  
“Lovebirds! We’ve got risen company!”

  
We smiled at each other before putting back on our hoods.

  
After that we continuously fought for the Pact. We advanced to the Gates of Arah, where the Marshal granted us good luck and left Commander Rim in charge of killing Zhaitan. His Wyld Hunt was complete.

  
When the Dragon was killed, we celebrated all day and all night at Fort Trinity. When I took a break from the festivities, Melaine came over, a couple ales in her hand.

  
“Here, a drink. Finest ale according to many a norn.”

  
I raised an eyebrow. “So the assassin drinks alcohol. Interesting.” I joked. She nudged me in the gut.

  
“Just drink.”

  
I obeyed. “So um, we defeated Zhaitan.”

  
“Yeah…” she leaned on my shoulder. “No need to fear him anymore. We do have four more dragons to fight.”

  
“But it is possible to kill an Elder Dragon,” I said.

  
“Yes.”

  
“Dawn’s just a heartbeat away.”

  
“Dawn’s just a sunrise away.”

  
I set the drink down and I grabbed her face gently. I leaned forward and kissed her.

  
Oh well, that’s all I can write for now. I must be off, for the Queen’s Jubilee is about to begin, and Former Commander Rim invited us to go with her.

**Author's Note:**

> All names thrown around here are in game. The new characters here are all my OCs, and yes, they do exist in game under my account. (Except for Lylienna, she belongs to a friend of mine.) I wrote this all down for roleplay purposes, and I want to write more of my toon's stories. Later I want to capture the struggle the sylvari are currently facing in Heart of Thorns.


End file.
